IELTSNetwork.com

A quick practice for today taking only 30 minutes.

Printed newspapers and magazines will no longer exist. Do you agree or disagree?

It is true that news and knowledge presented in the form of newspapers and magazines are still prevalent in the modern world. However, I believe that these means of information exchange will be taken place by the ever innovating technology.

At the present, the enormous amount of natural resources consumed to produce papers on which various types of content are printed is taking a heavy toll on the environment. Not only the staggering diminishing in the number of trees, which are the main sources of paper products, will further promote the effect of global warming, but also the contaminative ways in which papers are manufactured are seriously deteriorating our environment. As seen above, products such as newspapers and magazines have no valid reasons for them to be continuously utilised in the near future.

Furthermore, information carriers such as newspapers and magazines are no longer competitive in terms of efficiency as compared to the Internet. It is often the case that people refer to the instant online updates about the current world affairs rather than to the obsolete ways of reading a newspaper and browsing a magazine. As most people are able to access internet via electrical gadgets whenever and wherever they want, there is no sense for them to value the existence of paper based media anymore. In addition, the advancement in technology also allows people to experience the feelings of reading on papers without using actual paper materials. For instance, a digital device known as Kindle is becoming increasingly popular because the way it displays words share full similarity with those on real papers, as well as it allows users to have access to the information grid through wireless connection. Therefore, it is clear that printed materials can no longer satisfy individuals’ needs and is not compatible with the dynamic world setting.

In conclusion, information businesses have always placed high value on fast, low cost and accurate means of knowledge exchange. Since paper based news and magazines can no longer keep up with these standards as well as causing more issues to the environment, it is difficult to justify that their usage should be prolonged to the foreseeable future.

I'd like to provide my personal opinion which may not be accurate, and could even be wrong.

Printed newspapers and magazines will no longer exist. Do you agree or disagree?

It is true that news and knowledge presented in the form of newspapers and magazines are still prevalent in the modern world. However, I believe that these means of information exchange will be taken place by the ever innovating technology.

[Allen]
1. newspapers and magazines does not exchange information with their audiences.They provide information.
2. It will be taken place by new medias but not technology.

At the present, the enormous amount of natural resources consumed to produce papers on which various types of content are printed is taking a heavy toll on the environment. Not only the staggering diminishing in the number of trees, which are the main sources of paper products, will further promote the effect of global warming, but also the contaminative ways in which papers are manufactured are seriously deteriorating our environment. As seen above, products such as newspapers and magazines have no valid reasons for them to be continuously utilised in the near future.
[Allen]
personally , I don't think it is a good idea to discuss about the environmental impact of these media.

Generally, I would use the ideas as below:
1. Newspapers and magazines are not as efficient as tv and internet which can provide up to minute information and news.
2. electronic version of newspapers and magazines are more cost-effective.
3. social media replaced some functions of newspapers and magazines. They are also more attractive because users can interactive with others but not get information passively.

Hi allen,
I think discussing the advantages of e-media over material media is too narrow an approach. It feels like it is optional for people to choose one of them, which means paper based news and magazines can still be favoured by certain groups of people and consequently enjoy a considerable long time. However, my idea is that these obsolete information carriers will definitely fade away from people's life. The first reason is that the continuous use of paper materials is taking heavy toll on the environment- a solid reason for people to abandon some paper products and no body can argue with this. Secondly, newspapers and magazines can no longer satify people's needs in terms of instant updates, which pretty much sumarises all points you want to include (TV and the Internet can provide up to second digital materials and they have an abundance of information for users to obtain). Basically, I am proving my point using examples from two facets while your idea is only focusing on the benefits of digital world.

In addition, newspapers and magazines are indeed created for the purpose of information exchange. Writers receive materials from other people and convey this to a larger group of audiences, while readers can offer their reflection to help writers to improve. This is a two way interaction.

Just like whether or not financial education should be made a necessary part of curriculum. If you were to focus only on the view that financial skills can be acquired spontenously without mentioning that most schools cannot spare time for financial education, people would claim that it is optional for schools to conduct financial lessons, which is opposite to my view that financial lessons should not be included in the school program. I believe that looking at a problem from different angles is essential to making a convincing argument.

Hope I can make my strategy more acceptable to you.

Cheers

Hi yhjsaber,
On important question:
"be taken place " sounds wrong to me. "take place" means "happen", right? I guess that it should be "be replaced".

I read your explaination on "exchage". However, I am not fully convinced. To a certain extent, media and their audiences sometimes "exchange" information, but usually audiences just get information from media.
As a Chinese, when I tried to translate this sentence to my first language, it sounds unnatural. That's why I doubt about this wording choice. Hope some navite speaker can help to clarify.

Regarding the "environmental impact" of paper media, I still insisit on my understanding. Talking about "environment impact" seems kind of farfetched to me. From my point of view, the environmental impact of paper media is just a minor issue. Believe me, if one day newspapers and magazines really disappeared, It definitely cannot be caused by this reason. Geneally, you showed enough laguage skills in this paragraph. However, based on the fact that you need 8 on writing, I am not sure whether this will be a problem or not. I guess we need some expert's opinion on this issue.

After taking another look at the topic question: "Printed newspapers and magazines will no longer exist.", I am more convinced by my idea. You are asked to explain why it will disappear, so if you want to talk about "environmental impact". You should mention that people already realized this problem and are taking actions on it. If no one is caring about it, where could the consequences come from?

Sorry for writing so long to argue with you... I see it as a good chance for me to practice my writing as well ..

Cheers

Hi guys,

Quite the debate you've got going here. Just want to share my take on the lexical questions that have come up:

allen_zhang wrote:Hi yhjsaber,
On important question:
"be taken place " sounds wrong to me. "take place" means "happen", right? I guess that it should be "be replaced".

"Be taken place" would be incorrect in this instance. As Allen points out, take place is to happen. yhjsaber, I imagine you were thinking "will be taken over", which is a phrase that could work. However, Allen's "will be replaced" is probably the best suggestion.

allen_zhang wrote: I read your explaination on "exchage". However, I am not fully convinced. To a certain extent, media and their audiences sometimes "exchange" information, but usually audiences just get information from media.

I suppose by definition, "exchange" wouldn't be the best choice. However, I think the phrase "information exchange" is often used colloquially to refer to the dispersal and discussion of information by media outlets. Perhaps words like "dispersal" or "broadcast" or a phrase like "avenues for information" would be better.

Thanks Ryan,

It's your amazing forum that offers us a platform to learn from an discuss with each other. You are a great mentor to us!

BTW:
Do you have any advice on the "environmental impact" issue?

Best regard,
Allen

Thanks Allen and Ryan,

Yeah, I agree with you guys that the use of taken place and information exchange is not correct and appropriate.

However, I do want to insist on supporting my view through looking at two different angles. I read from an article on BBC news that the main reasons for newspapers and magazines to be replaced by digital materials involve the recognition that methods of manufacturing papers are mostly not "green". And as newspapers and magazines are demanding considerable amount of paper materials (which is way more than that needed in offices and schools: Becoming green by reading on screen), they should be first targeted in an attempt to reduce the rate at which vegetation coverage diminishes. This is why I am so persistent about writing the enviromental impact of the excessive use of paper products.

Besides, I believe that IELTS test focuses largely on assesing the ability of a candidate to use proper English in speaking and writing, which is basically the assessment of language skills. In other words, the content of your essay matters less than the language ability you depict, provided that you present your ideas in a logical and grammatically correct way. I often disagree with the views in many model answers, but I feel the methods in which these model answers are written are quite concise and rather logical that I forget to critise their standpoint. I hope Ryan can give me some suggestions as to whether or not I am lookig at the IELTS test in a correct manner.

Cheers.